Be ED: Encyclopedia Dramatica is ‘Russian Doll’ and ‘Poker Face’ Is Uncyclopedia…But Why?

An egregious, smart, inflammatory, and hilarious site called Encyclopedia Dramatica (ED) both rules the Web and serves as the content you will hate to love (just peruse their “Offended?” page).

Uncyclopedia is an unfunny site mostly but its entry on ED is hilarious and true. Just about every individual and institution that has ever existed needs money. The site roasts ED for begging for digital change. It’s a one up amongst many failures that Uncyclpedia posts.

ED has thousands of entries but the five that stand out, because they’re most positive, are William Randolph Hearst, George Carlin, Andy Kaufman, William Tecumseh Sherman, and the site's spiritual founder Ambrose “Bitter” Bierce.

Uncyclopedia doesn’t even have an entry on Sherman, arguably one of the best generals of all time and a major component for defeating the Confederacy and ultimately ending the American Civil War or Hearst, who almost single-handedly created the model for today’s news cycle.

These two digital entities are like Natasha Lyonne’s two greatest efforts in which she stars. ED is like Russian Doll (2019–) and Poker Face (2023–), Uncyclopedia.

While Doll tempts and entrances and uses bleak humor to illustrate a time loop half-hour, Poker is largely unfunny but compelling at the right moments. The power behind Lyonne’s acting carries aloft both series.

ED and Doll represent the quality side as whole renderings. The spirit of not pushing the envelope but dousing it with napalm and setting it ablaze. Uncyclopedia, like Poker Face, just tosses around expletives and makes it seem funny. It’s not.

The draw of Doll is the might of the minds behind it namely Lyonne and Amy Poehler. Maya Rudolph, coming fresh off her lukewarm show Loot (2022), produces Poker. The chemistry of director Rian Johnson and his team is actually a show of intrigue and substance. It just doesn’t pack the comedic punch to the gut or the sharp wit and true emotion of Doll.

Lyonne is excellent in both, however. She is the life buoy that saves Poker and the mighty ship that powers through the waters of inanity and boredom. Everyone talks about her rasp, and the hep c, and the drinking, drugging, and sexing that she has, engages in, or exudes. But the truth is that Lyonne works on her craft, knows her marks, and is always after the “big question” on or off the screen.

She abhors small talk and could wax philosophical about the Jewish diaspora if you let her. Doll unravels deep queries about family, friends, the specter of death, and the passage of time.

Poker is much more digestible and is like comfort food as opposed to the Michelin star Doll. It presents a flow that makes you have to piece together the shards of information and process the entire story. While it gets to lose flavor, Lyonne’s overbearing character accomplishes the feat of imbuing the show with a life-giving performance. She relies on acting from her days as a six-year-old actor. Those years of experience as well as living on the razor-sharp edge, she still holds onto her center.

What grounded her was her curiosity and understanding of the landscape. She has been able to lead two different series with aplomb and a swagger that bursts on the screen like ether set ablaze. With the curl of her mouth, she can bring flair and substance to both roles. But the best part is that she can handle being in Dark Mode on Doll and the Standard Mode on Poker.

In all, If viewers wish, watch Poker and chuckle at the expletives like Uncyclopedia. Doll insists that the audience be ED.